by Len Webster
And he was punishing himself for hurting her.
He gave her the truth, that he was going to Boston to seek forgiveness from his best friends.
Josie searched his eyes and only saw his love in them.
Her mother’s cancer being terminal only made her want to appreciate the moments she had. The life she currently lived. She didn’t want to live a life of regret.
And she didn’t want to push Max away.
To continue to punish him.
But she was still hurt.
And she still needed time.
“You always will be,” she revealed as she slowly inched her lips closer to his. Contact was a whisper away. “But I can’t give you the words just yet, Maxwell. I still need time.”
He blinked once, and his smile stretched that little bit more.
Josie’s arms untangled from around his neck, and her palms cupped his jaw, holding his face steady as she whispered, “Just know that my heart hasn’t changed its mind about you. I still do … You still are … I need time.”
“I told you,” he breathed. “It’s my turn to wait for you.”
And then her lips fluttered over his in the briefest, sweetest, heartbreaking kiss known to the universe.
Max was in the shower.
That flutter of a kiss ended quickly when Max pulled away and said he didn’t deserve her lips just yet. Josie was about to argue, but she shut her mouth and climbed off his lap. That feel of him between her thighs wasn’t enough. The ache remained, but she had to get off him before she gave in to her desires and temptations.
She wanted Max.
Intimately.
She wanted to feel him as he entered her slowly.
She wanted to feel the muscles in his back strain as he searched for euphoria with her.
She wanted what they had after he’d taken her to the ballet.
But that was gone.
Lost until she sorted out her feelings.
She loved Max.
He was her La Vie En Rose.
He was everything to her.
He proved he was the Max she still loved when he had put an end to her short kiss in his bed. And he proved he deserved her heart last night when he held her and promised they would just sleep in his bed together.
Josie stood by the large windows and gazed out at the city skyline. From where she stood, the world seemed at peace. From where she stood, she saw beauty on the horizon and got lost in the stories of those who travelled in the cars she could just see.
She hoped their lives were free of resentment and guilt.
She hoped their lives didn’t include the pain of hers.
“Hey,” Max said as he set his hand on her shoulder.
“This view is incredible,” she said, so amazed. Then she spun around to see his hair soaked and water running down the side of his face. She reached up and brushed the moisture away with her thumb.
The concept of love had always scared her.
The ones she loved the most had let her down the most.
With Max, he had been one of them.
But her father was right. Max proved he wasn’t like him because he stayed. He had come back to her. For her. Max turned his back on his need for forgiveness to be with her. To fight to have her love him back.
And she did.
“Do you wanna shower?” he asked as he wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her touch away from him. Then he turned his head and pressed his lips against her palm before he reached out and set his hand on the nape of her neck.
Josie became breathless from that small kiss on her skin.
It was tender and beautiful.
He was doing everything right.
Last night, he had been there to support her decision about her mother’s life support. She woke to him reading the form. He had let her sleep in his arms without asking for more from her. And he pulled away when her lips found his.
He deserved her.
He gave her the truth.
He didn’t sleep with Andrea.
She could move on.
But with everything going on with her life, she needed them to go slow.
And that meant not telling him that she loved him just yet.
“No. I’ll shower at my place,” she said as she clutched his hips. Then she pulled him against her and let out a shaky breath. “Max …”
“Yes, Josephine?”
“Thank you for last night.”
His smile reached his beautiful brown eyes. “I told you; I’m here for you.”
She nodded. “I know. And thank you for being my lawyer. How much do I owe you for going over that form?”
Max let out a bothered sigh as he walked her back until she felt the cool glass window through her T-shirt. Air left her lungs as Max pressed his body against hers and his other hand cupped her right cheek.
“You owe me nothing.”
She felt his hard erection against her stomach as her breathing heaved, loving just how close their bodies were.
“But—”
He shook his head. “No buts, Josephine.”
God, she was dizzy from the way he looked at her.
The way he said her name.
Josie slipped her fingers beneath his grey shirt and skimmed up the side of his body. “Max.”
He flexed his hips, and he let out a small groan. “Yes?”
“Why don’t you think you deserve my lips?”
His eyes widened.
“Why don’t you think you deserve to kiss me?”
Max’s eyes closed as his forehead rested on hers. “I just don’t.”
Six days ago, he didn’t.
Last night changed that.
Josie dropped her hands from his body, and Max’s hands fell from her face and gripped her waist. She ran her palms up his arms and the length of his neck until she gently cradled his jaw.
Then she let out a soft exhale as she tilted his head slightly and noticed his eyes opened. He began to pull way, but she held him firmly and whispered, “You do. Kiss me like you miss me when I’m with you.”
And he did.
His lips found hers.
The feel of his mouth on hers was the sweetest surrender she’d ever committed.
She melted into his kiss.
It was soft.
There was so much heat as their lips moved gently over each other’s.
He stole her breath and replaced it with his own.
Max’s tongue traced her lips, and she parted them to give him access, his tongue finding hers.
Gliding against hers.
She moaned as he sucked her tongue into his mouth.
She ached when he pressed his arousal harder into her stomach.
It was so much.
There was little apology.
No hint of goodbye.
It was them missing each other.
Suddenly, her phone ringing loudly had Max’s lips stilling, and to her bitter disappointment, he pulled back.
Her phone continued until it stopped.
Then it repeated its sequence of rings as another call came through.
Max glanced over to the lounge room, but she turned his head and returned her lips to where they belonged.
On his.
Entwined with his.
Just his.
I love you, was thought.
Again and again as the ringing faded away and she got lost in everything Maxwell Sheridan.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
“Josephine,” he moaned against her lips as she continued to kiss him.
Max knew it was wrong.
He knew he was taking advantage of her.
She was vulnerable.
Emotional.
She had decisions about her mother’s life support looming over her.
He knew this was wrong.
But he couldn’t stop answering each of her kisses with one of his own.
Max kissed her harder.
Deeper.
With all the love he had for her pressing onto her lips.
Her phone rang for the fourth time, and Max pulled away, hating that their kiss had to end. Josie blinked her eyes open, and the shock consumed her eyes as her hands fell away from him. Max reached up and brushed the evidence of their kiss away from her bottom lip with his thumb.
“Answer your phone, Josephine. It might be important,” he said.
Josie winced, and guilt consumed her face. She swallowed hard and pushed past him to the couch where her phone was. Max turned and watched her, giving her space as she answered the phone and pressed it against her ear.
“Hello,” she greeted in a small voice.
Her body went rigid.
Then she nodded.
“I’m sorry. Yes, I’ll be there. I just have to shower, and I’ll be there soon.” Josie hung up the phone with a sigh and then spun around to face him.
“Everything okay?”
A half smile touched her lips. “It was my dad. He’s at the hospital. Dr Frederickson was asking for me,” she explained.
Max crossed the room until he reached her and pulled her into his arms. Max could protect her from a lot of things, but life and death, he couldn’t. He couldn’t make up her mind for her, but he would support any decision she made. He kissed the top of her head.
“Let’s get you back to your apartment so you can shower and then we can go down to the hospital.”
She blinked at him. “You want to come to the hospital with me?”
“I told you, Josephine, I’ll be there waiting for the time you need me.”
“But work?”
He shook his head. “Can wait. You’re more important.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and her blue eyes glazed over as if she were moved. A pang in his chest made him breathless at the sight of her. It was her love that looked at him. It was there. Max just had to fight to release it.
Josie nodded as she snaked her hands around the back of his head and brought her lips close to his. “Stay in my mother’s room with me. You don’t belong in the hallway, Max.”
“Wherever you need me, I’ll be there,” he promised, and his lips sealed over hers.
His love for her was so much more than anything he had ever felt.
He’d earn her love back.
Max would give her time.
Josie had him wait in his car when he pulled up to her apartment. He wasn’t going to argue with her and remained silent. Just as she was about to get out of his Porsche, she faced him and said she wasn’t ready for them to both be in the very spot where he had ended them. He understood and told her to go get ready. Half an hour later, Josie had returned with her hair still mildly wet, the ends soaking her black top. She gave him a small smile and told him that she was ready to go to the hospital with him. During the drive, she informed him that she’d given Stella her car keys and her best friend would pick up her car from outside his apartment.
“Ready?” he asked once they stood outside her mother’s hospital room. He glanced over to find her staring at the form in her hand.
His heart clenched at the sight of her white knuckles as she grasped the papers tightly. Max reached over, pulled one of her hands free, and threaded his fingers with hers. He squeezed her hand, and she lifted her gaze to him.
“I’m right here with you.”
“Thank you,” she said as Max reached for the handle and turned it, opening the door. He led her inside to find her father on the phone staring out the window. Josie quickly dropped her hand from Max’s the moment her father began to turn.
He wouldn’t lie, that one action tore him up inside, but he knew she had her reasons. And Max was sure he hadn’t given the ambassador the best first impression.
The first time he had ever laid eyes on Max, his daughter was yelling at him.
He could understand Josie’s hesitation at showing any public displays of affection around her father.
“Good morning, Jos—” The ambassador paused the moment his eyes landed on Max, and his nostrils flared. “Oh, you brought a friend.”
A friend.
Max clenched his jaw.
It was more than what he and Josephine were right now, but Max wasn’t her friend.
He was her La Vie En Rose.
He knew her intimately.
Loved her intimately.
Had been on the receiving end of her I love yous.
Max was determined to be the man she spent the rest of her life with.
But first, he had to prove he was a man worth trusting with her heart.
Josie walked over to her father, pressed a kiss on his cheek, and then gave him a quick hug. “Dad, this is Max,” she introduced. Then she faced Max and gave him a tight smile that screamed ‘please don’t let him scare you.’ “Max, this is my father, Jeff Faulkner.”
Max made long strides until he reached them and held out his hand. “Ambassador Faulkner.”
Her father glanced down at his daughter, raised his brow, and then after some silent exchanges, he hesitantly placed his hand in Max’s and shook it. “Mr Faulkner will do, Max.”
He nodded.
“Have you had breakfast, Josephine?” her father asked.
Dammit!
That was what he had forgotten.
He’d spent time kissing her rather than feeding her.
So busy with the feel of her lips on his that they’d missed eating.
She shook her head. “I’m not really hungry. But I can join you if you want.”
Her father smiled. “I’d love that. Max, would you like to join us?”
Max and Josie flinched, surprised her father had invited Max. He stared at the ambassador, shocked he wanted him to join them.
Just as he was about to say yes, he shook his head, realising that Josie needed to spend time with her father. She had a strained relationship with him. Max knew that for her to live a life without regret, she had to rebuild her relationship with her father.
“You two go,” he encouraged.
“Are you sure?” Josie asked, concern filled her face.
Max nodded. “Yeah. You both probably have a few things to discuss and catch up on.”
Her eyes widened as she realised that he meant she would have to discuss her decision to end her mother’s life support with her father. Appreciation took hold of her face and softened her features.
And it was there.
Her adoration for him had returned.
And that filled his chest with radiant hope.
Josie walked over to him and slipped the form into his hand. The small smile on her face was gloriously beautiful as she set her hand on his cheek. Max stilled, patiently waiting until she got on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered as she returned her weight back to her heels. “We won’t be long. If you like, you can talk to her. She loves law. If you’re allowed to, discuss your cases.”
“I will,” he promised.
Her eyes glittered as her thumb glided across his cheek. “You know how I feel about you?”
“I do.”
“Good,” she said as she pulled her hand from his cheek and spun around. “Ready to go, Dad?”
Max glanced over to find the concern written all over Josie’s father’s face. He was stiff, almost uncomfortable with what he had just witnessed.
The ambassador blinked his eyes as if she had snapped him out of his thoughts and then nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go,” he said as he made his way towards the door.
Josie had followed but quickly stopped and faced him. “My mother’s name is Emily, Max.” Sadness hinted her smile. “And she already knows about you. She likes you very much.”
Knowing that Josie spoke of him to her mother did things to him he never knew.
His heart clenched and soared.
Heat and wonder collided.
He was honoured that her mother knew of him.
When Josie and her father left the room, Max
walked over to Emily’s bedside and sat on the chair closest to her. He took in Josie’s mother and saw her hooked up to various machines. A sense of regret washed over him. He would never know her mother the way she knew him, and it saddened him. What made him feel worse was the fact that Josie had to see her mother this way. She had to deal with her mother’s cancer alone.
She had to hear him say goodbye hours after she was notified that her mother was on life support.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly covered Emily’s hand with his.
She was painfully cold.
Max hoped that his palm gave her heat.
Shades of pink caught his attention, and he noticed the flowers he had gotten for her. Josie had put them in her room. He wasn’t sure if she would when he handed them to her. He had hoped she understood they were genuinely for her mother and not a way back to her heart.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Max swung his focus back to Emily.
She seemed asleep.
Her body never stirred.
“Hello, Ms Faulkner. I’m Maxwell Sheridan,” he said, introducing himself to her as he squeezed her hand lightly. “I’m not sure what you know of me, but I just wanted to say I’m honoured you know of me.”
He waited for some kind of answer.
But her body didn’t tic.
Or flinch.
Her chest heaved with the assistance of the machine.
“Your daughter saved my life, Emily,” he admitted proudly. “She showed me what real, honest love was. I never wanted to disappoint Josephine, and when I did, it was the most horrible mistake I ever made. Your daughter is my La Vie En Rose. The true love of my life. I promise, Emily, I’ll never let her feel disappointed again. I’ll never leave her. And I’ll wait forever until she’s ready for me to be her La Vie En Rose again.”
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Max sucked in a deep breath.
“I’m in love with Josephine,” he told her mother.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“I promise to never stop.” He squeezed once more. “Now, Josephine says you like law. Well, let me tell you about a case I helped my father with. He represented a client who was charged with a murder he never committed. It was a contract for hire, and the hit was imbedded in all his wife’s emails …”